I don’t have a home station, except when I put up a small vertical on the balcony, which isn’t often - so my only experiences of conditions are basically when I can get out on the hill. Many people tend to follow the hourly/daily/weekly changes in solar activity, MUF and what-not - I personally don’t do this, since my activations have to be fit into the rhythms of my body and mood and fitness, rather than what space weather is doing. Then, when I do activate, I simply have to put up with the conditions on the day. It’s this mostly random use on my part of the bands at a particular time of day which feeds my admittedly un-objective perspective on how the bands are doing.
Looking forward to better condx later in the year, or maybe next Spring?
The Equinoxes are both good times for DX on the higher frequencies, 12, 10, 6 m.
I have more trouble getting organised for a SOTA activation these days. I chase when the domestic situation allows although I am more interested in 14 MHz and above ATM.
Brian says summers are great but as the other half of the world is in winter and the doldrums this must therefore limit DX.
The Grey Zone tends to help with DX regardless but that’s an awkward time for activating for me.
Getting on air when you can and taking pot luck with propagation is in the end all most of us can do.
Just wanted to share my recent source of unexpected “DX” joy: While I was on HB/VS-249 a few days ago, I suddenly heard G4TMZ on 145.500 with a booming signal. I first thought he was on holiday in the vicinity and I had overheard the prefix, but it turned out to be Es. Then I called him with the measly 1.5 W FM from my Yaesu VX-3, and he gave me a 57 report. The path lasted for about 20 minutes until he faded away.
Maybe I haven’t been in the game for long enough, but this is the first time I’ve experienced this in FM with a handheld. Granted, G4TMZ has a 15 element beam on 2m, which certainly helps
Es on 2m is really impressive. I’ve done 2m FM Es into France once or twice with a 13ele and 150W and 6m FM Es to Copenhagen with 2.5W. My best 2m Es was SSB with the same antenna/power to both of the EA9 dependencies which count as Africa, 1950km. Africa on 2m from the UK allows a big smile
Reading that reminded me of when way back in 1976 I took my newly purchased Trio TR-7010 up to Beacon Hill in Leicestershire, not far from Bardon Hill G/CE-004. I had a halo at 2.5m and all I was hoping for was a few local contacts, but 9H1CD soon made the log.
HF-wise my first experience of armchair copy DX was on 10m AM back around 1969. 10 watts to a 3el yagi lying on the top floor of a 3 storey terraced building above the work premises of Eddy G3YFH produced contact after contact over to the States, all 59 both ways.
I’ve done very little chasing DX on 2m in recent years but FT8 has made it easier. The only recent contact I would class as DX was using 40 watts to a 7 ele Yagi on 144.174 mHz last month working HB9MOW on 29/07/2024 at 11:11z. -16 SNR sent and -11 SNR received. Distance 1016km so not too extreme DX.
I think my best 2m Es contact in recent years was into LZ, KN22 square from IO92, SSB of course, my computer is too busy to allow it to operate my station! To me the charm of Es on 2m is not how far you can get, but how strong DX signals can suddenly appear in a quiet band, as suddenly as somebody throwing a switch. They disappear again just as suddenly so you have to be quick off the mark to work them, totally unlike a tropo opening that can last for days, or even aurora that can last for hours.
A pretty good late season Es opening today, I’ve heard no activators but lots of more high-powered chasers from much of EU and as far away as PY, suggesting that perhaps another propagation mode was involved, TEP+Es?
Around 1400UTC today 10m was wide open across NA, south to SA, and into EU. I wish I would have been able to sit on the summit a couple hours to take advantage of the condx, but the wife gave me two eye rolls and that was my cue to QRT. Fun times ahead for the ‘24 challenge.
